Conventionally, radio receivers are used for audio stereo reproduction systems such as all-in-one stereo systems and separate stereo components, portable audio systems, car-mounted audio systems, and the like. The radio receiver receives and demodulates broadcast signals broadcast from a radio station and allows users to listen to programs and musical compositions.
On the other hand, the radio station publicizes various information about its programs on the Internet homepage. For example, the radio station sends broadcast signals to the audience, and provides it with musical composition information as associated information (hereinafter, to be referred to as “radio broadcast information”) about broadcast musical compositions such as their titles and artist names as well as names and numbers of CDs that record the musical compositions.
There is proposed an audio reproduction apparatus as a client terminal having the radio reception function and the Internet connection function implemented in one system that simultaneously performs listening of radio programs and acquisition of musical composition information.
This audio reproduction apparatus allows a user to listen to a radio program from the audio reproduction apparatus and acquire musical composition information from associated information provision servers. The musical composition information includes titles, artist names, and the like related to musical compositions that are broadcast in the radio program.
The audio reproduction apparatus is capable of clipping a musical composition received from the radio station onto a hard disk. Further, the audio reproduction apparatus is capable of clipping musical composition information about the musical composition acquired from the associated information provision server onto the hard disk.
On the other hand, a consumer game machine is capable of downloading game contents from a game content server via a network. On a day when a new game is released, for example, the game content server is concentratively accessed from many consumer game machines aiming at data request information about the targeted game content.
To solve this problem, the game content server predetermines a delivery schedule based on system setting or a user option. According to the delivery schedule, the consumer game machine issues data request information about the game content to the game content server (e.g., see Patent Document 1: Jpn. Pat. Appln. Laid-open Publication No. 2002-202927).
Now, let us consider a case where a plurality of audio reproduction apparatuses issue acquisition requests for the musical composition information to the associated information provision server at a time. According to the method as described in patent document 1, however, the associated information provision server must perform complicated delivery schedule management for many audio reproduction apparatuses. There has been the problem of giving too much load on the associated information provision server.